IF she had a theme tune, Kate Garraway’s would almost certainly be Survivor by Destiny's Child.

Breakfast TV hosts have come and gone in various so-called “sofa wars” while successive bosses tried to revamp the now defunct GMTV.

That was before the disastrous Daybreak launch with Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley.

But on Monday, a shiny new version of the Daybreak breakfast show format arrives, And 12 years on, Kate is the only one still standing.

With a new two-year contract, she will present Daybreak Fridays and cover for new full-time host Lorraine Kelly when she is on holiday.

You’d think Kate would be angry at being overlooked for the top job again.

But she said: “People say, ‘You are always the bridesmaid but never the bride’. I have to remind you that bridesmaids have a good time at the wedding and it’s not a bad gig – it’s well paid, I interview great people and have a good time.”

So she’s not bitter about being Lorraine’s support act?

“Support Lorraine? I think she’ll be fine,” Kate laughed.

“Lorraine has always been the Queen of the sofa, so it’s not like a battle between two people who haven’t been on screen before.

“Do I salute Lorraine Kelly and doff my cap to her? Yes. Oh my God, I do. But that happened the very first day I walked in and met her. She is Queen of the sofa and always has been.

“If I am going to be number two to anyone then I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be number two to.

“Lorraine’s been on breakfast TV for 25 years. She was on TV when I was university, then Fiona Philips came along and then Emma Crosby and then Christine. TV changes and line-ups change.”

Kate dismisses talk of any in-house rivalry or pillow fights on the sofa between presenters.

She added: “There has always been talk of sofa wars, when I first started, you would think that Penny Smith and I were having mud wrestles every day.

“When I started, it was Eamonn Holmes and Fiona and Andrew Castle and then me and Ben Shephard and Andrew and Emma. People see it in terms of top job and stand-in but when you are there, it’s not like that.

“I feel quite lucky to still be there, I’m 45 for God’s sake.”

Daybreak is also lucky to still be there after shedding millions of viewers but Kate promises a return to the strengths of GMTV.

She said: “People care about that time of day. You’ve just got up and feel a bit woozy and haven’t had you first cup of coffee. People want to be uplifted, not put down with a diet of misery.

“Some of the subjects covered in Daybreak were different and some people clearly liked them and others didn’t. You are in people’s homes and so they are going to have strong views.

“I think people who stopped watching because they didn’t like what they saw should come back now. The new Daybreak feels a lot like the old GMTV.”

When Daybreak launched in September 2010, Kate was given a new role as Entertainment Editor.

“I had a lot of fun running around the country interviewing lots of stars and having a really brilliant time – I have happy memories of that,” she recalled.

“It’s very hard to say why the show didn’t work but the team who worked on it did it with the best intent.

“I found Adrian hilarious and we are still in touch.

“As for Christine, I think you would struggle to find anybody who worked with her who didn’t think she was lovely.

“I think the reason they didn’t work is for other people to talk about – and boy have they.

“People talk about GMTV like it never had a bad word written about but that didn’t get a smooth ride.”

In an industry where youth seems to be the must-have for many female presenters, Kate has proved talent can overide that. But as she hits middle age she is honest about trying to keep the wrinkles at bay.

She said: “We are all getting older and as far as I know I’ve never been hired for my looks. What I do do is buy loads of products.

“Anything that says anti-ageing or more elastic skin on the label, I’m a sucker for.

“I go away with my girlfriends for spa weekends and have loads of treatments and they always joke that I leave with bags and bags of creams and potions.”

She claims she has not had Botox and is certainly able to crack a smile across her whole face. But she hasn’t ruled out surgery in the future.

She said: “I would never say never but I would be pretty scared about it so we’ll see. At the moment I am still slapping on the cream.”

Kate lives in north London with her husband, former Labour spin doctor Derek Draper, 45, and children Darcey, five, and Billy, two. There are websites devoted to her yummy mummy looks but it’s something she refuses to acknowledge.

Kate revealed: “My mum is incredibly glamourous and she talks about the moment when one day she got on a bus and the driver no longer flirted with her.

“Well, I’ve never had that moment because I’m like Thora Hird, no one has ever flirted with me. I’m seriously normal.”

Normal maybe, but for the last few months some demanding working hours have put a strain on her home life.

Kate said: “At the beginning of the year, it was bonkers. I’m used to 3am alarm calls – I’ve had 3000, which is a lot of getting up early.

“I’ve always liked breakfast TV and I had, up until the change in my role on Daybreak, been able to do some other things along the way such as my appearance on Strictly.

“But when Adrian and Christine left, I ended up doing two roles and I was filling in. It meant I was doing to two jobs – up early to do on air stuff and then in the afternoon and evening showbiz things.

“It was mental for the work life balance to be in at 3am and still working at 8pm and I just couldn’t have done it for a long period of time. So Derek and I sat down and said ‘This is too much work. What can we do?’

“I felt like I wasn’t seeing my family and it was too much but with my new role that changes. I’ll be doing programmes for BBC Radio Five Live, too.”

Another stress for Kate came with the collapse of her discount gift business Goodypass.com. They went into voluntary liquidation, leaving a string of creditors and Kate around £130,000 out of pocket.

She said: “I had my fingers burnt and I’d think twice before I did something like that again.”

But that is in the past and Kate is excited about the new Daybreak for more than just professional reasons.

She said: “I’m looking forward to waking up in bed with my husband most mornings.

“Derek is as excited as I am about the new Daybreak line-up but for different reasons.

“It won’t last long though as I have a long list of DIY jobs which have been neglected and he has got away with not doing them for way too long.”

?Kate will present Daybreak on ITV1 every Friday between 7am and 9.30am.